The Windy City is one of our favorite places to visit. In addition to the fact that we have amazing friends who live there, Chicago also happens to be chock full of delicious grub spots. Case and point, we’d be happy to be locked away with a stack of gingerbread donuts from the Doughnut Vault any day of the year. When a special occasion rolls around, and you need a solid spot to stuff your face and celebrate, no place beats Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago.

We first heard about Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago when Chi-town native Lauren Schumacker recommended it to us. (Lauren is a super talented lifestyle writer and freelance journalist for outlets like INSIDER and Romper. Fortunately we were able to nab a list of some of Lauren’s favorite Chicago hot spots when we interviewed her for the #LocalInsiderTips section of FoodWaterShoes.) We were eager to try Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago when Schumacker raved about it, so we were psyched when our pal who lives in Chicago suggested we give it a whirl to celebrate his graduation from Loyola University Chicago’s doctorate program.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, we knew we were off to a great start. The ambience at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago is adorable, cozy and relaxed. It’s a restaurant that comes across as approachable, fun and special without feeling heavy handed.

My Kind of Town – The Hook & Fraise Cocktail Made with Pinhook Rye at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

The culinary team Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago is led by Mindy Segal. Segal opened the restaurant in 2005, after stints at a number of other Chicago fine dining establishments including Ambria, Charlie Trotter’s, Marché and MK.

We kicked our meal off with scrumptious cheddar biscuits that were served with honey butter. Normally the biscuits come in orders of three, but our waitress was kind enough to let us add a fourth so none of our table mates lost a finger. We also ordered the arancini which we quickly inhaled. The herb and taleggio filled risotto fritters were combined with a zesty tomato sauce, parsley piston and micro basil.

Next up was the octopus. The dish is made with charred octopus, marinated gigante beans, kalamata olives, Calabrian chiles, oregano and lemon. Despite being seafood based and more of a starter, it packed a punch. The substantial white gigante beans were delicious. The octopus was cooked perfectly and not at all chewy.

The star of dinner that night was the fried chicken sandwich which consists of a buttermilk fried chicken thigh, cheddar and hot sauce maple syrup. It’s served with potato chips and house made pickles.

Despite being a monster sandwich, the brioche bun helps make it light and airy (although I’d advise splitting this beast with a pal so you can save room for dessert). Speaking of dessert…

Let’s Never Split Up – The Banana Sundae at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

All of my seat mates raved about the banana sundae and I enjoyed it too. The dessert is made with banana halvah ice cream, warm butterscotch, peanut brittle and graham cracker. With that being said, my favorite dessert was the Twix which is made with fleur de sel shortbread, soft caramel, milk chocolate ganache and salted caramel nougat. If you enjoy Heath bars or a good banoffee pie the way I do, I’m sure you’ll love the Twix too.

Mindy Segal’s Pastry Team Has a Few Twix Up Their Sleeves – The Twix Dessert at Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago in Chicago, Illinois

We had such an incredible time that we totally spaced out and forgot to take a photo of one of the restaurant’s namesake hot chocolates (which comes a house made marshmallow). We’re not too worried because we know we’ll be back to visit Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago, and our dear friends, again sometime soon. In the meantime, we made need to scoop up a copy of Cookie Love cookbook, so we can try our hands at a few of Segal’s sweet treats over here on the left coast.

We get it, it’s tough work reading word after word about decadent desserts and hot chocolates. Give your pointer finger some much needed exercise after all that heavy scrolling you just did. If you enjoyed our article on Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Chicago let us know. Please click the “like” button with a star on it at the bottom of this post, share the link to this article via your social media handles or email this article to someone you know who might be heading to Chicago.

If you’re feeling super ambitious, we’d love it if you’d buy us a cup of coffee, so we can visit and review even more awesome places for you!